


and some things you just can't speak about

by sapphicnimueh



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Comfort, Coming Out, F/F, Fluff, Morgwen - Freeform, Uther's homophobic wbk, morgana isn't out to anyone except gwen and probably merlin but he isn't in this fic so who cares, they’re soft i love them
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-28
Updated: 2020-07-28
Packaged: 2021-03-06 00:01:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,316
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25544029
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sapphicnimueh/pseuds/sapphicnimueh
Summary: What had she done? She just came out to Uther Pendragon. The one person she didn’t want to come out to - ever.
Relationships: Gwen & Morgana (Merlin), Gwen/Morgana (Merlin)
Comments: 7
Kudos: 44





	and some things you just can't speak about

**Author's Note:**

> based on a prompt i received from my curiouscat :)

Morgana has never been afraid of standing up for herself or for what she believes in, especially if she’s standing up to Uther Pendragon. She has always freely spoken her mind, shared her opinions, and given her advice to the court. She wasn’t scared of Uther - hell, she couldn’t care what he thought about her. 

So when the news got out that Uther was planning to banish two of the kitchen maids for falling in love and being in a relationship, Morgana spent half the night rehearsing what she was planning to say to the court during the meeting the next morning and the other half consoling the two girls locked up in the dungeons. 

“I promise I’ll see to it that you’re freed,” Morgana whispered through the bars, smiling gently at the frightened couple. “Uther has no right to lock you up like this for being in love.”

After the soft ‘thank you’s’ from the girls, Morgana stood up and walked back to her chambers, her mind racing.

“Morgana,” Gwen uttered when she saw her girlfriend walk through the door. “How can we help them?”

Morgana smiled at Gwen as she closed the distance between them, linking their fingers and pressing a soft kiss to her forehead. “We’re going to do everything we can to make Uther change his mind. Whatever it takes, Gwen."

***

The next morning Morgana took her place beside Uther as they stood in front of the people gathered to witness the wrongful banishing of the two girls.

Her heart shattered as the girls entered the room, tears streaming down both their faces as they took their place in front of Uther, guards on either side of them. She snuck a glance at Gwen, who gave her a small reassuring smile. 

And so began Uther’s speech. He droned on about how Camelot is a respected kingdom and he is a respected leader (Morgana could barely hide her scoff). He talked about how he could not possibly tolerate anything as “unnatural” as the two girls’ love in his kingdom. Uther was just beginning to hurl insults at the girls in front of him when Morgana, head held high, stormed over to stand in front of them.

“I’ve had enough!” she exclaimed, glaring daggers at Uther. “How can you claim to be a fair and just ruler when you are banishing these two lovely girls?” 

Uther scoffed, taken aback. Of course, he was used to Morgana speaking her mind, but she rarely did it when they were holding court. “I beg your pardon?”

“What is so wrong with these girls? They’re lovely people, not that you would ever know that as you avoid the servants as though they carry the plague! They’re in love, Uther, what’s so wrong with that?”

“I don’t need to justify my actions to you, Morgana, now leave this instant!” he shouted, voice rising to dangerous levels.

“Oh, really? Justify it to these girls, then! I think it’s only fair they receive an explanation before you force them to leave behind everything they know and love.”

“Morgana!” Uther spat, gesturing for the guards to lead her out of the room.

But Morgana wasn’t stopping now, she was tired of always biting her tongue around him. She tore her arms from the guards’ grip and took a few steps closer to Uther. Behind her, Gwen and Merlin led the two kitchen maids from the room while everyone was too focused on Morgana to notice.

“Oh, Uther Pendragon,” she started, her words like ice. “You can’t just force these girls from their homes! You claim it’s unnatural enough to banish them. Tell me, Uther, would you have me banished for loving another woman?” 

There it was. She said it. Heat spread to her cheeks yet her gaze never faltered. She just came out to Uther, the last person on earth she wanted to confide her sexuality in. 

“M - Morgana?” Uther sputtered out. He was in shock and Morgana shouldn't have taken as much joy in that as she did. Sadly, his shock only lasted mere seconds. He began shouting at her, the same things he was telling the kitchen maids but with more force, more anger driving his words.

Morgana smiled smugly at the man in front of her and spun on her heel. Despite the verbal daggers Uther was spitting at her, despite the appalled stares of the members of the court she felt bore into her very soul, Morgana walked out of the room with her head held high. She pushed past the guards standing at the door and made her way out.

It was only when she was outside of the room, the doors closed behind her, that she realized what she had done.

The empty corridor echoed with the sound of her hurried footsteps as she rushed back to her chambers, mind racing and heart beating out of her chest.

What had she done? She just came out to Uther Pendragon. The one person she didn’t want to come out to - ever. And of all times to do it! He was ranting about how he could never tolerate love like that in his kingdom and she just admitted to being involved in a love like that! What was she thinking? What was he going to do to her? To Gwen? Oh, Gwen. Morgana hoped she was okay, and that she would be okay when they were both eventually banished.

These thoughts plagued her mind until she pushed open the door to her chambers and saw Gwen standing in her room by the window, biting her thumb with a worried look on her face.

At the sound of the door closing, Gwen turned and looked at Morgana. “I heard what happened,” she whispered.

“Word travels fast, I suppose,” Morgana joked, trying to shrug off her worries.

Gwen leaned against the window and smiled. “I wish I could’ve seen the look on his face.”

“It was what you’d expect. His eyes looked like they were going to pop out of his head.”

A soft laugh escaped Gwen’s lips as she pictured the sight. 

“I’m glad you weren’t there,” Morgana muttered, eyes downcast. “I wouldn’t want you to hear the insults he hurled. It’s good that you weren’t there, Gwen, or he might begin to suspect something and send guards to find you. At least now you’ll be safe.”

“Morgana,” Gwen said, walking across the room to lead her girlfriend to the edge of the bed and sat down beside her. “Nothing’s going to happen. He may be rude and arrogant, but he won’t do anything to you. You’re his daughter.”

“That hasn’t seemed to stop him before,” she scoffed, remembering the nights she spent chained in the dungeon and the welts on her wrists from the cuffs rubbing against her skin.

“Look at me,” Gwen sighed, placing her hand on Morgana’s cheek and gently turning her face so she could look in her eyes. “Whatever happens, it’ll be okay, I promise. I’ll be there. You won’t have to face anything alone. We’ll deal with it as we always do, together.”

Tears began slipping out of the corners of Morgana’s eyes as she stared at Gwen, the woman who just said she would give up her entire life, everything, to be with her if she got banished.

Gwen stroked her thumb back and forth across Morgana’s cheek, a gesture she knew calmed her down, wiping her tears away in the process.

The two sat like that for a long time. Morgana’s tears had dried by the time she moved, placing her hand over top of Gwen’s and giving it a small squeeze. “Thank you.”

Instead of a verbal response, Gwen pressed her lips against Morgana’s, bringing her free hand up to hold her other cheek. Morgana smiled into the kiss and closed her eyes.

Maybe things would be alright after all.

**Author's Note:**

> hi!  
> i've never shared my writing before, so constructive criticism is greatly appreciated, along with any comments and kudos!  
> stop by my twitter @sapphicnimueh to say hi and request more aus/hcs/prompts for me to write about!  
> shoutout to julia for hyping me up, i hope you enjoyed the full fic and ty for your support :')


End file.
